Stonecipher: Negotiations Should Be Completed Soon

Boeing CEO Harry Stonecipher is still being pretty cagey about who he's talking to, but whoever it is, he says negotiations on the sale of the company's commercial aircraft operations in Wichita, KS, are close to wrapping up.

Or maybe not.

"They're either going to get finished or we're just going to say, 'Wait a minute, let's give this thing up and get back to business,'" Stonecipher said, quoted in the Wichita Business Journal. "The guys that are doing the work have assured me that things are on track and they are going to get it finished."

Stonecipher (below, right) said, if the deal is to be concluded, it'll probably happen in the 10-20 days.

"There are some tough, tough negotiations that have to go on and they are," he told the Business Journal. But interestingly, he doesn't seem to give much of a hoot one way or the other how the negotiations wrap up. He was quoted in the Business Journal as saying he's reached the "point of indifference" on whether the plant is sold.

The workers, along with the rest of Wichita, is on pins and needles waiting for the outcome.

"We would like to know one way or the other as soon as possible because it is worse living with this uncertainty," said Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans. He told the business journal, "I think that a change in ownership is not necessarily a bad thing. I think that we have great workers, great work ethics and I think we can still deliver a great product. So I'm not real concerned about that."

Boeing's Wichita plant builds about 75-percent of the 737 line. About 7,000 people work there. The sale has been an issue for almost a year. As ANN reported, Boeing has negotiated with at least two big-time players in trying to sell its commercial plants in Wichita, Tulsa and McAlester, OK.

FMI: www.boeing.com